Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest man, claims that some Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited employees and oil dealers run a blending factory in Malta, a European island.
Dangote revealed this over the weekend, when he accepted House leadership from Speaker Tajudeen Abbas and his deputy Benjamin Kalu.
He said that the quality of products produced at the Dangote Refinery greatly exceeded that of marketers’ imported products.
He said the bad fuel imported into the country has damaged many cars. “I still stand by what I said. Go to filling stations, you can check the quality. That is the only way,” he said.
“We know where they blend these things. Some of the NNPC people and some traders have opened a blending plant somewhere off Malta. We all know these areas. We know what they are doing,” Dangote said.
A Cocktail Of Issues
Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, is facing energy issues, with all of its state-owned refineries inoperable. The country relies significantly on imported refined petroleum products, with the state-owned NNPC being the primary importer of these critical commodities.
Fuel lineups are widespread throughout the country. Petrol prices have tripled since the termination of subsidies in May 2023, exacerbating the plight of inhabitants who rely on petrol to operate their vehicles and generate electricity, owing to decades of erratic power delivery.
Last December, Dangote, one of Africa’s premier industrialists, began operations at his $20 billion complex in Lagos, producing 350,000 barrels per day. The refinery aims to reach its maximum capacity of 650,000 barrels per day by the end of the year. The refinery has begun to sell diesel and aviation fuel to the country’s marketers, with petrol supplies expected to begin in August.
Regulatory officials had questioned the quality of petroleum products produced at the refinery in the Lekki Free Trade Zone.
During his discussion with federal MPs, the millionaire businessman denied that petroleum products from his refinery are subpar. He urged the Green Chamber to probe the quality of fuel and gasoline at filling stations across the country.
‘Monopoly Claim Untrue’
Dangote also said the claim in some quarters that his group of companies enjoy monopoly is not true.
“If you look at all our operations at Dangote (Group), we add value; we take local raw materials and turn them into products, and we sell.
“We have never consciously or unconsciously stopped anybody from doing the same business that we are doing.
“When we first came into cement production, it was only Lafarge that was operating here in Nigeria…Nobody ever called Lafarge a monopoly,” he said, adding that labelling his group of companies as monopolistic is disheartening.
“Monopoly is when you stop people, you block them through legal means. No, it is a level playing field whereby whatever Dangote was given in cement, for example, other people were given because some of them even got more than us.”
